92 THE MEYNELL HOUNDS. 



" The Rufford ! Bah ! Can I, the pride 

 Of all the shires, my talents waste, 

 To Percy's tow-rows over-ride, 



And through his deep morasses haste ! " 



Not that they did not show fair sport at times, which no 

 one enjoyed more than the Colonel, yet he was not loth 

 to exchange " the morasses and the tow-rows " for the 

 fair pastures of the Meynell country and the Hoar Cross 

 hounds. So determined was he to stick to the latter, that 

 he even swam the Dove in flood, in 1849, on his famous 

 mare, Ada, and had them all to himself for a long time 

 in consequence. 



Some capital horses were bred by him, amongst the 

 best being Havelock, foaled in 1857, sold at eight years 

 old to the celebrated " BoIj " Chapman, the dealer, for 

 a hundred and sixty pounds, who passed him on to Lord 

 Grey for three hundred and fifty pounds ; Eosy Morn, by 

 Chanticleer, foaled in 1855, and ridden "in the great run 

 of 1868 ;" Bengal, by Tufthunter, out of the above mare, 

 foaled in 1862, who went to Chapman for a hundred and 

 fifty pounds, and left him with only two hundred pounds 

 added to the purchase money ! This horse ran second to 

 Mountain Dew at Lichfield. 



These prices are curious instances of the fact that 

 gentlemen will hardly ever give the same prices to one 

 another, which they pay unhesitatingly to a dealer. 



The Colonel's eldest son, who now lives at Somersal, 

 served, like his father before him, in the Rifle Brigade. 

 Like the rest of his family, he was a good horseman, but 

 spent most of his time in India, where he was an ardent 

 ahikarri. The old house at Somersal is full of trophies, 

 some of them obtained at considerable risk of life and limb, 

 and he was considered a good enough authority on big 

 game in India to be consulted by his friend. Major Heber 

 Percy, when writing his contribution to the Badminton 

 library. The second son, who, like his elder brother, is 

 a great antiquarian, is Rector of Somersal. The younger 

 brothers all emigrated years ago to New Zealand. 



